Amazon is shedding hundreds of employees throughout its Prime Video and MGM Studios divisions.
Mike Hopkins, who oversees these items, despatched a notice to staffers on Wednesday informing them of the job cuts, in accordance to a replica of the memo seen by CNBC. An Amazon spokesperson confirmed the layoffs.
Hopkins mentioned the firm moved to make cuts to “prioritize our investments for the long-term success of our enterprise.”
“Throughout the previous 12 months, we have checked out almost each side of our enterprise with a watch in direction of bettering our potential to ship much more breakthrough motion pictures, TV reveals, and stay sports activities in a personalised, straightforward to use leisure expertise for our world clients,” Hopkins wrote in the memo. “As a end result, we have recognized alternatives to cut back or discontinue investments in sure areas whereas growing our funding and concentrate on content material and product initiatives that ship the most impression. As a end result of these choices, we might be eliminating a number of hundred roles throughout the Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios group.”
Amazon is asserting extra cuts after a 12 months of mass layoffs. Beginning in the finish of 2022 and persevering with by way of 2023, Amazon initiated the largest layoffs in its historical past, reducing greater than 27,000 jobs throughout virtually each space of the firm.
Team,
We’ve taken vital steps in direction of our long-term imaginative and prescient of making Prime Video the first-choice leisure vacation spot for purchasers worldwide, and I’m proud of the whole lot we have completed as a staff to date. Our investments in programming, advertising and marketing, and expertise have enabled us to increase our choice of blockbuster motion pictures, hit television collection, stay sports activities, the world’s largest TVOD catalog together with over 650 companion Channels worldwide, and AVOD companies together with Freevee – all accessible in a single vacation spot, delighting clients round the globe. And, by way of our acquisition of MGM, we have elevated our investments in theatrical movies and pushed progress in MGM+ and our licensing and third-party manufacturing companies.
Yet, at the similar time, our trade continues to evolve rapidly and it is essential that we prioritize our investments for the long-term success of our enterprise, whereas relentlessly specializing in what we all know issues most to our clients. Throughout the previous 12 months, we have checked out almost each side of our enterprise with a watch in direction of bettering our potential to ship much more breakthrough motion pictures, TV reveals, and stay sports activities in a personalised, straightforward to use leisure expertise for our world clients. As a end result, we have recognized alternatives to cut back or discontinue investments in sure areas whereas growing our funding and concentrate on content material and product initiatives that ship the most impression. As a end result of these choices, we might be eliminating a number of hundred roles throughout the Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios group.
Today, we are going to start to attain out to colleagues who’re impacted by these position reductions. Notifications might be despatched out shortly, and we anticipate all notifications in the Americas to be accomplished this morning (Pacific time), and most different areas by the finish of the week. We are following native processes, which can embrace time for session with worker consultant our bodies, probably ensuing in longer timelines to talk in some international locations.
This is a troublesome determination to make and one which my management staff and I don’t take calmly. It is tough to say goodbye to gifted Amazonians who’ve made significant contributions on behalf of our clients, staff and enterprise. Thank you to your dedication and work. To assist with the transition, we’re offering packages that embrace a separation cost, transitional advantages as relevant by nation, and exterior job placement assist.
Our prioritization of initiatives that we all know will transfer the needle, together with our continued investments in programming, advertising and marketing and product, positions our enterprise for a fair stronger future. Prime Video is one of the hottest advantages for Prime members, and one of most generally used leisure locations in the world. I’m proud of the work you do daily on behalf of our clients, and I’m wanting ahead to persevering with to construct our enterprise for the future.
-Mike